For the first time, it’s not clear that Nigel Farage will survive. He is in real trouble here.
The Reform leader is embroiled in a serious scandal, under a formal parliamentary process he can’t bluff his way out of, with the press suddenly turning on him and an insurgent far-right party snapping at his heels. Worse, it’s all happening as Labour refreshes itself in government.
Suddenly, that all-important poll lead is starting to fade away. Farage’s main strength – that he can credibly act like a prime minister in waiting – is weakening. Last week, BMG Research for The i Paper gave an Andy Burnham-led Labour party a slim lead. The latest Ipsos poll put Reform just two points in front of Labour.
Farage now faces four possible parliamentary investigations into his behaviour: one on the £5 million gift from Thai-based cryptobillionaire Christopher Harborne, another on allegedly trying to influence Bank of England policy on crypto, a third on a failure to register property interests and a fourth on the story, broken over the weekend in the Sunday Times, over his failure to disclose financial support from George Cottrell.
Cottrell is a nightmare for Farage. Everything about him excites the journalistic imagination: aristocrat, convicted criminal, crypto-fraudster, baby-faced smoker, with extensive political connections and a tendency to call Farage “daddy”. It’s Fleet Street catnip, an unimprovable series of qualities to launch a media feeding frenzy.
